Nonstop flight route between Mönchengladbach, Germany and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL), Mönchengladbach, Germany and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,312 miles (or 6,940 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport and Shaw Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport and Shaw Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL):

• The furthest airport from Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,906 miles (19,161 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL) is Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) ENE of MGL.
• Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport (MGL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was founded in 1955 as a small airstrip for gliders.
• Because of Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport's relatively low elevation of 125 feet, planes can take off or land at Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• In addition to being known as "Düsseldorf Mönchengladbach Airport", another name for MGL is "Verkehrslandeplatz Mönchengladbach".

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• The 20th Fighter Group was first equipped with North American P-51D, then exchanged its P-51's in February 1948 for F-84B Thunderjets, the first TAC group to receive operational F-84s.
• The squadrons flew the P-61 Black Widow in Europe with Ninth Air Force during World War II, and were reassigned back to the United States after the end of hostilities.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• On 23 September 1949 the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred to the 20th from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Langley AFB Virginia.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• The furthest airport from Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,545 miles (18,580 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On 9 August 1990, the 17th and 33d TFS of 363d TFW became the first F-16 squadrons to deploy to the United Arab Emirates in Operation Desert Shield.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.
• In October 1942, the flight training was changed to Advanced flying training and AT-6 Texan single-engine and Beech AT-10 twin-engine trainers were used.